Tayside firefighter Alan ‘Soots’ Soutar’s Lakeside World Darts Championship dream today went up in smoke.
He went down three sets to one against Craig Caldwell from New Zealand in a Lakeside classic which was shown live on BBC1.
Soots’ hopes were extinguished under the heat of the Lakeside lights in the preliminary match despite winning the opening set where he was averaging 100.
Soutar – resplendent in tartan trousers – failed to build on his good start and high-scoring Caldwell won three sets in a row in a cracking tungsten tussle that had legendary commentator Tony Green salivating at the quality shown by both players.
“It’s been magic,” said Green.”I’ve loved it.”
Green also mentioned the Angus Darts Academy during his commentary which is run by Soutar in Arbroath.
“Not only a great player, but a great tutor,” he said of the 37-year-old, who established the academy in 2013 to bring through the next generation of darts players.
Former Royal Marine Soots, who lives in Arbroath, was given huge backing at Frimley Green by a travelling army from Angus who cheered his every shot.
After the match, darts legend and BBC pundit Bobby George said Soots had “played well, then he died off a bit”.
The Angus Ravens captain had made it through to the final by way of the arduous Lakeside play-offs in Hull where 500 players took part in a field which itself had been narrowed down from tens of thousands of qualifiers from across the world.
Caldwell now goes on to take on 2015 World Champion Scott ‘Scotty Dog’ Mitchell in the first round proper on Sunday.
The Kiwi said afterwards that he had some sympathy for Soutar given how well his Scottish opponent had played.
Soots previously qualified for the Lakeside World Championship in 2011 but went down 3-1 to Dutchman Willy van de Wiel in the preliminary round.
In 2013 he was voted by the public as Scotland’s Sports Volunteer of the Year in STV series Scotland’s Real Heroes for his commitment to his local community.
He also hit the winning double eight in the World Cup Final in 2013 against the USA for a 9-7 victory alongside Ross Montgomery, Gary Stone and Craig Baxter.
Soots started playing darts at a very early age in the Skate Inn, which was owned by his grandparents John and Jane Air for more than 40 years.
He played in the men’s leagues in Arbroath and Forfar aged just 14.
A year later, he became the youngest winner of the Arbroath Champion of Champions competition when he beat Ian Jolly in the final at the Cairnie.